O Ye of Little Faith

Religious studies has remained a compulsory part of the National Curriculum
since the 1980s, but a major overhaul of the subject is expected to begin soon.
(Pic : bargainbinblasphemy.tumblr.com)

A few weeks ago, the Welsh Government announced that the religious education/religious studies (RE/RS) curriculum will be overhauled as part of the ongoing Donaldson review (Detention for Donaldson?).

Religious studies has been a compulsory part of the National Curriculum since it was established in 1988 (having been part of teaching since at least 1944). All students need to take at least a short course at GCSE - which is the equivalent of half a GCSE - though pupils still have the option of taking a full course.

The WJEC offers two versions at GCSE full course – Specification A, which looks at religions and their beliefs in isolation and is usually taught in faith schools, and Specification B which examines religion on a theme by theme basis – such as beliefs on divorce or abortion. According to the WJEC, 39,055 pupils took the full course (Spec. B) in June 2015 and 70.8% achieved a grade A*-C (pdf).

The Education Minister, Huw Lewis (Lab, Merthyr Tydfil & Rhymney), told BBC Wales that religious education will be completely overhauled and transformed into a subject called "Religion, Philosophy & Ethics", quoted as saying :

"My proposal....my contention would be that we rename the RE curriculum and transform it into the religion, philosophy and ethics element of the curriculum....an explicit commitment to allowing children to ponder ideas around ethics and citizenship and what it means to be a citizen of a free country."

We don't know yet if that's simply a re-branding or will entail a fundamental reform of the subject, but many in the religious community – and chair of the National Assembly's cross-party group on faith, Darren Millar AM (Con, Clwyd West) – have expressed concerns that this means the subject will be "watered-down". Secular campaigners like the British Humanist Association and philosopher AC Grayling have welcomed the move.

If we're going to discuss reforms to the subject, we need to be clear why it's currently taught in the first place and why it's a compulsory part of the curriculum : to understand our own and different cultures, which are – even in supposedly secular nations – built on religious foundations. It's supposed to educate future citizens on the reasons why individuals believe and act the way they do - all the more important since the expansion of the EU (with Wales welcoming a primarily Catholic Polish community) and all the more relevant with the present refugee crisis.

Although I never took religious studies at GCSE, in non-faith schools it's a secular subject and "religion, philosophy and ethics" is an apt description of the present syllabus even without any reforms.

I suspect what motivates those who've spoken out against this is that Christianity may no longer be front and centre (though it never really has been). In addition, if you're going to teach ethics, you can't focus on faith alone. You have to explore philosophy, the history of ideas and themes like war, poverty and prejudice. Since teaching philosophy and classics fell out of favour, these ideas have been excluded from the pre-university curriculum.

You also have to include other secular subjects like politics, as well as the constitution and civil liberties. So, presuming religious studies would remain a compulsory subject, this reform would be the perfect opportunity to explore improvements to political education in the context of lowering the voting age to 16 (see also : The X-Factor and The Youth Gone Mild?).

Can you see how this may turn religious studies from something approaching a doss subject into something much more substantial, as well as the impact it could have on pupils' critical thinking skills – which would help them in every other subject?

The other cited reason for the reform is to tackle extremism. I'm not convinced that anyone inclined towards religious or political fanaticism is being indoctrinated in the classroom. It's happening in their place of worship, their bedrooms, amongst their peer groups and their families. A few lessons a week - which would be tantamount to singing folk songs around a campfire - is unlikely to dampen fires in the bellies of those who would seek to destroy society and undermine our freedoms.

So the teaching of philosophy and possible exploration of citizenship is far more important here than trying to bore extremism out of young people.

This is potentially (stress potentially) a very exciting development in Welsh education. I don't think we can afford to have a few traditionalists and conservatives spoil it by taking their ball home, or militant athiests using it as an excuse to dismiss the need to teach children about religious beliefs at all.